Many pool
players find One Pocket to be the most rewarding pocket
billiards game of all. It is often likened to chess on a pool table,
although the strategy isn’t truly as deep as chess. Yet in
One Pocket, beyond the tactical thinking, players still
need to step up to the table and execute their shots.

It is a game
that players often graduate to after building a foundation of pool
skills at 8-Ball, 9-Ball or Straight Pool -- and sometimes even
3 Cushion Billiards. It has a more daunting learning curve than
other pool games, which makes it not so well suited for beginning
players.

It has less
ball running, yet much more head-to-head maneuvering than other
pool games. It is guaranteed to tax your thinking, expand your shot
horizons and stimulate your pool creativity. It is these qualities
that make One Pocket so seductive once you begin to learn
the game. Of course if you don’t understand the game, it can
look pretty boring – not so once you begin to understand,
though!

There’s
a lot of action in One Pocket – maybe partly because
players have more confidence that their skill will prevail in One
Pocket. One Pocket is also very easy to handicap so players
of different skill levels can compete together. This is a good thing,
because the range between player’s skill levels is perhaps
wider in One Pocket than it is in other pool games!

One Pocket often
becomes the game of choice for maturing pool players who may have
lost a little of their sharp eyes, but still have all the other
tricks of the game in good working order. So if you are starting
to have trouble keeping up with those 9-ball players with their
young eyes, yet consider yourself a smart pool player, you really
ought to give One Pocket a try – it just might give
you a whole new lease on your pool career!

Even if One Pocket
does not develop into your favorite game just yet, playing
One Pocket is practically guaranteed to improve some skills
that carry over into other pool games – skills such as banking,
safety play, speed finesse and cue ball control.

This web site is not going
to make you a strong One Pocket player all by itself –
you’re going to have to get into the trenches with other One
Pocket players yourself to get a real feel for the game. But
can learn the basics and find lots of tips for improving your One
Pocket game here, and hopefully have fun while you are at
it!

After all, a game in which each player only shoots at a single
pocket must be real simple, right? Actually, the basic idea of One
Pocket is simple, yet despite that – or perhaps because
of that – the strategy and shot-making can become wonderfully
complex. However, before you start running, you need to learn to
walk. Here are some of the basics to get you started:

THE
BREAK Because there is no certain way to make a ball on the break
in your own pocket, the conventional One Pocket break is
designed to open up the rack on your own chosen side of the table,
without leaving anything that goes into your opponent’s pocket.
You want to break in a controlled fashion, so that you get the benefit
of loose balls near your own pocket, without leaving loose balls
near your opponent’s pocket. Once you learn how to break in
One Pocket, it becomes a big advantage, and that is why
an alternate break format is used in One Pocket –
rather than winner breaks.

SCORE WHEN IT’S SAFE TO One Pocket is a single rack game – it can take
only a few shots to win, yet one mistake and your opponent might
run out too! So be careful how you select your shots and be careful
how you play them, but keep in mind ultimately you have to shoot
aggressively enough to win, if you want to win. Generally, you can
shoot aggressively either if the shot is free of danger, or if the
shot is easy. Otherwise, you might want to play less certain shots
as two-way shots, where you are shooting towards your pocket, yet
playing safe at the same time. On tougher shots it often helps to
shoot with just enough speed to reach your pocket, because unlike
other pool games, in One Pocket a near miss can still pay
off if you leave the ball close enough to your pocket to create
a problem for your opponent. Remember, if they make a ball in your
pocket it counts for you, unless they pocket scratch or jump the
cue ball off the table!
Click here for a larger view

PREVENT YOUR OPPONENT FROM SCORING While it might be tougher to run balls in One Pocket
than in other games, fortunately it is also easier to play safe
– it’s that only one pocket thing! As your game develops,
you will discover many different ways to play safe in One Pocket,
and eventually you will need them all. Sometimes all you can hope
for in a safety is to survive for another inning just by keeping
your opponent from running out, and you might even have to sacrifice
something just to do that. Click for a larger view

At other
times, you might play a safety that puts your opponent in danger
of a total sell out. That kind of safety would be considered a ‘trap’,
and some traps can turn the playing of a safety into an aggressive
act indeed.
Click here for a larger view

Of course,
even if you play a great trapping safety, your opponent might just
pull off a great ‘escape’, or even turn the tables on
you!

MOVE BALLS THAT FAVOR YOUR OPPONENT AND GATHER THEM TO FAVOR YOU
In One Pocket, you cannot just play defense and wait for
your chance to run out, you are going to have to be more proactive
than that. You can greatly improve your chances of winning if you
can reposition balls that favor your opponent, and leave them so
they favor you. Generally that means on your side of the table,
and the nearer your pocket the better! That may sound easy, but
of course at the same time your opponent is fighting to do the exact
opposite every step of the way. That’s what the challenge
of One Pocket is all about.
Click here for a larger view

MAKE
IT DIFFICULT FOR YOUR OPPONENT TO REMOVE BALLS THAT FAVOR YOU
Smart players do this for two very big reasons. For one thing, it
allows them to build on their favorable position, so when they finally
do get a shot, they can run more balls. And of course the other
big thing is, if they can really lock up the cue ball at the same
time they leave balls near their pocket, they might trap their opponent
into giving up an immediate shot! The most basic tactic for making
it difficult for your opponent to move balls that favor you is to
leave the cue ball behind either the ‘stack’, or behind
other blocking balls, so they cannot easily get to them to remove
them.
Click here for a larger view

Again, while
you are trying to do it to your opponent, they are trying to do
it to you, and so goes the dynamic of One Pocket.

LEARN
TO PLAY THE SCORE
The basic idea of ‘playing the score’ is to adjust your
strategy depending on the score, to give yourself the best chance
to win. Typically, this is done by playing more conservatively and
sending balls out of play to protect a lead, or by playing more
aggressively and keeping the balls in play when you you are way behind.
Playing the score is all about managing the odds of winning. If
you need just one or two balls and your opponent needs significantly more, generally
your odds improve the less balls are in play, and their odds improve
the more balls are in play – because of the possibility of
stringing together a run with multiple balls in play!
Click here for a larger view

Scott Frost has a DVD that illustrates many examples of his unique brand of "Power One Pocket"

You
can learn a lot by watching
Try to watch good One Pocket players and really focus on
the ebb and flow of strategy. Whether you have any strong players
near you or not, try to arrange a trip to one of the bigger One
Pocket tournaments like the Derby City Classic , or one of
Grady Mathews’ Legends of One Pocket tournaments.
These are great places to get completely saturated in One Pocket!

Even if you
cannot get to a tournament in person, you can see literally hundreds
of hours of championship caliber One Pocket without ever
leaving home by purchasing Accu-Stats videos of One Pocket
tournament matches. Not only will you learn a great deal from watching
these tapes, you will learn by listening to the expert commentary
too.

Find
a One Pocket mentorThe traditional way to learn One Pocket, is to spend
time with an experienced player. If you have access to an experienced
One Pocket player that is willing to give you basic lessons,
or otherwise share their knowledge, you should definitely take advantage.
Even if they won’t give you lessons as such, you might find
an older but knowledgeable player, whose shooting skills may have
declined, but who still knows the game and is willing to play you.

If you are
fortunate to have a knowledgeable older player available to learn
from, the main thing is to please pay them respect – they
undoubtedly deserve it, and what a cheap price for you to pay as
a student -- and often it is all that they ask!

Get
professional One Pocket instruction
There are some professional instructors or player/instructors that
offer One Pocket expertise, and if you have a chance to work with
one of them, that should give your game a huge boost.

For example,
you can learn from one of the very best by arranging for a clinic
or individual instruction with One Pocket legend Grady Mathews,
who does exhibitions and instruction. Visit his web site at www.gradymathews.com